Adjustable register



Dec. 28, 1937.- s. HART El AL ADJUSTABLE REGISTER Filed Aug. 31, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jian lay Hari lean ardZavbrJ/a IL IIIII r .l I LC. lllllz v Q 9W h 5% s. HART ET AL ADJUSTABLE REGISTE R A Filed Aug. 31, 1934 Dec. 28, 1937.

Patented Dec. 28, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJ US TABLE REGISTER ration of Connecticut Application August 31, 1934, Serial No. 742,236

9 Claims.

The present invention relates to a register for controlling the admission of air into a room to be heated or conditioned.

The general object of the invention is to provide an improved register which may be readily set or adjusted so as to adapt it for use in connection with air conditioning systems or air ventilating systems operating under widely different conditions.

More particularly, an aim of the invention is to provide an improved and simplified arrangement of air register having a plurality of shutters or vanes, the vanes being constructed and arranged so that selected ones may be maintained in closed condition while the remaining shutters may be adjusted to regulate the eifective sizes of the openings which they control. Registers made in accordance with the present invention may be used in connection with ventilating systems where the velocity of the air is relatively low; or they may be used in connection with air conditioning apparatus where the velocity of the air is relatively high; or they may be used in connection with a system which at one time (for example, in the winter) is used for supplying clean, warm air at room temperature to the room, and at another time (for example, in the summer) for supplying refrigerated air .to the room. Further, with our improved arrangement, the velocity and the volume of the air as it issues into the room may be very nicely regulated and controlled, and the shutters or vanes may be set so as to get the desired aspiration.

The improvements of the present invention find peculiar adaptation in connection with an adjustable damper of the kind illustrated and described in the patent to J. D. McKnight No. 1,931,263, granted October 17th, 1933 and wherein the construction is such that the stream of air delivered from the front of the register will always be inthe same direction and the air stream is maintained substantially uniform over the entire face of the register. Our improvements will, therefore, be described in connection with the adjustable register of the McKnight type, it being understood, however, that our invention is not limited to that type except as so specified in the accompanying claims.

Other objects will be in part obvious, and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplitied in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a face view of a register embodying the improvements of the present invention, a portion of the grill being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional View taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows; the shutters or vanes being shown in closed position;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing certain of the shutters in partially opened condition, the remaining shutters being shown as disconnected from the mechanism for adjusting the same;

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially on line 44 of Fig. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 5 is a detail View partly in section, the same being taken substantially on line 55 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in detail, I0 is a frame or casing of any suitable construction and shape. It may be made of sheet metal and may be of generally rectangular form, as illustrated. On the front of the frame is a register face or grill ll of any appropriate desired design. At suitably spaced intervals between the end walls of the frame are provided a series of vertical partitions l2 extending preferably in planes perpendicular to the face of the register, and dividing the register into a plurality of side by side passages or openings, preferably of uniform size. The partitions may be secured in place in any suitable way; for example, they may have lugs 13 on their upper and lower edges engaging in slots formed in the top and bottom wall of the frame. Within each opening or passage is a shutter or vane. By preference, each vane is pivoted adjacent, and intermediate the front and rear edges of, a partition. In the present instance, each of these shutters is preferably formed of sheet metal and, when in closed position, extends diagonally of the opening in which it is positioned. The shutters may be pivoted in any suitable way but, for the purpose of illustration, we have shown each shutter as being carried by a pair of pins [5 projecting in aligned relation towards each other from the bottom and top walls of the frame I 0. The knuckles for these pins are formed in part by curved portions IE on the shutters themselves, and in part by leaves ll riveted, or otherwise secured, to the shutters. Each partition may have a shoulder or abutment i8 against which the free edge of the respective shutter is adapted to engage when the latter is closed. The shutters are normally urged to closed positions by resilient means, such as springs !9.

For the purpose of adjusting the positions of the shutters, each has secured to it an arm 20 which is disengageably connected with a shiftable bar 2| extending longitudinally of the casing. The bar is supported for lengthwise movement by links 22 the opposite ends of which are respectively pivoted to the bottom wall of the casing and the bar. The bar may be shifted in any suitable manner. For this purpose, we have shown a screw 23 suitably journaled in a box 24 secured to the bottom wall of the frame. On this screw is a traveling nut 25 having a pin 26 engaging in an inclined slot 21 formed in a plate 28 riveted, or otherwise secured, to the bar. The forward end of the screw has a squared end 29 adapted to receive a key or the like whereby the screw may be turned to adjust the bar and thereby adjust the angular positions of the shutters connected thereto.

In order to accomplish the heretofore described purposes and object of the present invention, each shutter is detachably connected to the shutter adjusting means. In the present illustrative disclosure, the shutters are respectively associated with the. shiftable bar by hooks 30 serving as quickly detachable latch members. Each hook is pivoted at one end by means of a pin 3i to the shiftable bar. Carried by the arm 20 of each shutter is a stud 32 with which the hooked end of the respective hook is adapted to cooperate. The free end of each hook has an edge 33 so proportioned that when the respective stud 32 is not within the recess of the hook it engages this edge. The hooks are normally urged towards the studs 32 by springs 34. The intermediate portion of each spring is coiled about a pivot pin 3! and has its opposite ends respectively bent over edges of the shiftable bar 2| and the hook.

With the arrangement described, when all of the hooks are engaged with the respective shutters, all of the shutters may be simultaneously adjusted, and the device will operate as described in said McKnight patent. In such case, the volume of the air admitted to the room may be very nicely controlled when the velocity of the air stream is relatively low, as in the case of an air ventilating system where warm air, for example, is supplied to the room through the register, heat losses in the temperature of the room being supplied by other means, such as radiators However, in such case, the control cannot be nicely balanced nor can the velocity and volume be properly proportioned in the event that the velocity of the air stream was relatively high, as in the instance of an air conditioning system wherein the heat losses within the room are supplied by the conditioned air. In such instance, it would be necessary to close the shutter to such an extent that a whistling effect is produced; and the air would issue from the face of the register in a substantially uniform, unbroken stream so that the desired aspiration would not be obtained. A register constructed in accordance with the present invention is adapted for use irrespective of the velocity of the air supplied thereto, the arrangement being such as to permit of great flexibility in the adjustment of the device to meet widely diiferent conditions as to volume, pressure, and velocity of the air. With our improved arrangement, when it is desired to control an air stream of high velocity, some of the shutters may be maintained closed by disconnecting them from the mechanism for adjusting the same, and the remaining shutters may be adjusted so as to control the eifective sizes of the openings between the fixed vanes or partitions. For example, every other shutter may be disconnected from the shiftable bar, as shown in Fig. 3,

and the intervening shutters may be adjusted.

In such case, the openings between the free ends of the adjusted shutters and the respective opposed partitions would be relatively larger than would be the case if all of the shutters were adjusted and thus whistling effect is prevented. Furthermore, with this arrangement, the velocity of the air, as well as the volume, as it passes through the register may be very nicely controlled. Also, this arrangement is of advantage in that the air flow through the register is broken up into a plurality of spaced streams as it issues from the register so that the desired aspiration is obtained.

With the arrangement shown in the accompanying drawings, the selected shutters may be disconnected from the adjusting means by pulling the free ends of the hooks 3D forwardly. The end surfaces 33 of the hooks will then engage against the studs 32. To again interlock the shutters with the hooks, it is merely necessary to push the closed shutters to an open position, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3. This may be done by inserting a tool through the grill and pushing rearwardly on the shutters. .Or, the hooks which are out of locking engagement with the studs 32 may be simultaneously re-engaged with those studs by adjusting the shiftable bar to its extreme right-hand position, as shown in Fig. 2.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely diiferent embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the abovedescription or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a register of the character described, a frame having a plurality of passages therethrough, a plurality of pivoted shutters, one in each passage, a latch engaging member on each shutter, means common to all of said shutters for adjusting the same, and a readily accessible, quickly detachable latch connectible between each latch engaging member and said adjusting means, and yieldable means urging each latch into operative engagement with its latch engaging member.

2. In a register of the character described, a frame having a plurality of passages there through, a plurality of pivoted shutters, one in each passage, a latch engaging member on each shutter, and means within said frame and forwardly of said shutters for adjusting said shutters and comprising a shiftable bar and an easily accessible quick detachable latch removably connecting each latch engaging member with said bar, and means normally urging the shutters to closed positions.

3. In a register of the character described, a frame having a plurality of passages positioned side by side, a plurality of pivoted shutters, one

in each passage, means normally urging said shutters to closed position, means for adjusting said shutters, and a quick detachable connection between said adjusting means and each shutter.

4. In a register of the character described, .a frame having a plurality of passages therethrough, a shutter pivotally supported for opening and closing movement in each passage, adjusting mechanism common to all of said shutters for positioning the same, means urging each shutter to a closed position, an easily accessible quickly detachable latch connecting each shutter to said adjusting mechanism, and means operatively engaging each latch with the adjusting mechanism whenever all of the shutters are in closed position.

5. In a register of the character described, a frame having a plurality of passages therethrough, a plurality of pivoted shutters, one in each passage, and means for adjusting said shutters comprising a shiftable bar, a stud carried by each shutter, and a plurality of hook members pivoted to said bar and respectively associated with said studs.

6. In a register of the character described, a frame having a plurality of passages therethrough, a pivoted shutter in each passage, a shiftable bar extending longitudinally of the register, means for adjusting said bar, and a quick detachable connection between said bar and each shutter, each of said quick detachable connections including an offset stud on said shutter, a hook member pivoted to said bar, the recess of which is adapted to receive said stud, and a spring normally urging said hook into engagedposition with the stud, the end of each hook having a surface adapted to engage against its respective stud when the stud and hook are not in interlocking relation.

'7. In a register of the character described arranged to divert air flow from a supply system, a frame having a plurality of fixed parallel partitions dividing the register into a plurality of passages, a plurality of adjustable shutters, one in each passage, each of said shutters being pivoted adjacent a partition and intermediate the front and rear edges thereof and extending from its pivot in a general direction opposite to the flow of air, resilient means tending to urge each shutter to a closed position, and means including easily accessible, quickly detachable latch connections for selectively adjusting said shutters whereby selected shutters may be simultaneously adjusted in their open positions while the remaining shutters may be maintained closed.

8. In a register of the character described, a frame having a plurality of fixed partitions which are parallel throughout substantially their entire extents and serve to divide the register into a plurality of parallel passages, a plurality of adjustable shutters one in each passage, each of said shutters being pivotally connected adjacent a partition and intermediate the front and rear edges thereof and extending from its pivot in a general direction opposite to the flow of air through said passages, means within said frame and forwardly of said shutters for adjusting the same, an easily accessible quick detachable latch connection between each of said shutters and said adjusting means and resilient means tending to operatively engage each of said connections.

9. In a register of the character described arranged to control air flow out of a supply duct, a frame having a plurality of fixed substantially parallel partitions dividing the register into parallel passages, adjustable shutters respectively positioned in said passages, each of said shutters being pivoted within its passage adjacent to a partition intermediate of the front and rear ends of said passage and extending from its pivot in a general direction opposed to the flow of air through said passages, adjusting means common to all of said shutters, latch engaging means on each shutter, and quick detachable latch members respectively associated with each shutter and removably and respectively connecting each of said latch engaging means with said common adjusting means, said members entering into latching engagement to connect the inoperative shutters to said adjusting means Whenever all of the shutters are shifted to a closed position.

STANLEY HART. LEONARD ZAVORSKI. 

